Clutter in the Kitchen
where I write
I used to work in a beautiful office. My laptop sat on a big wooden desk with lots of drawers stuffed with everything I could ever need, replete with paper clips, push pins, rubber bands, ribbons, cough drops, shoe polish, pens, pencils, markers of every colour, printer paper, countless keys for unknown purposes, and tons of files in two lockable drawers. (Where did I put that key?) My bookshelves were laden with old favourites and new volumes which somehow never got read, sometimes stacked two deep. I had the most comfortable meetings on a big couch and two leather club chairs. A lovely antique sideboard held bottles of welcoming single-malts and sherries that put the paltry offerings of the Mad Men offices to shame.
But now I happily sit at one end of the kitchen, tapping away on my laptop while I’m waiting for the potatoes to boil or bacon to crisp. Perhaps surprisingly, I’ve found this a huge improvement. I mean, now I have a desktop made of the same granite as the kitchen counters, wonderfully cool to the touch. And I sit before one of the most beautiful windows in the house overlooking the garden.
Today, as part of the SNAPSHOTS Winter Challenge, I proudly claim my retirement slobbery. Slobbiness? Slobbishness? (I just checked—it’s slobbery. Who knew? To tell the truth, though, the desk in my lovely old office was even messier!)
